Sorting device for punched cards



Sept. 25, 1951 HOOE 2,569,170

SORTING DEVICE FOR PUNCHED CARDS Filed March 18, 1947 Patented Sept. 25, 1951 SORTING DEVICE FOR PUNCHED CARDS Hunter E. Hooe, Athens, Ohio, assignor to The McBee Company, Athens, Ohio, a corporation Application March 18, 1947, Serial No. 735,282

, 2 Claims. 1 1 The present invention relates to devices for sorting marginally punched record cards, checks and the like.

In the sorting of record cards of the type shown in United States Patent No. 1,544,172, issued to A. Perkins on June 30, 1925, a long sorting rod or needle, provided with a handle at one end, is projected through selected aligned punched holes of a stack of cards, which are then elevated and held in position suspended from the needle while the arrangement is jarred to insure the dropping from the stack of cards of such cards as may have been previously notched in registry with the needle. Since the needle is supported from the handle end only, it is prone to deflect or bend under the weight of the stack of cards suspended there from, particularly since the center of mass of the cards is located at a substantial distance from the handle point of support. This fiexure of the needle not only tends to deter separation of the cards notched in registry with the needle, but also imposes a considerable overhanging card weight on the hand and arm of the person grasping the handle, requiring such persons application of substantial muscular strength during the sorting operation, with attendant excessive iatigue. The necessity for supporting the comparatively heavy Weight, which is located a substantial distance or moment arm from the single point to prevent inadvertent movement of one of the end supports from the needle, in order to forestall undesired sliding of the card lengthwise of the needle and oif its end.

One form which the invention may assume is exemplified in the following description and illusi trated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a device embodying one form of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one type of marginally punched card which may be employed in connection with the device.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the device, partly in longitudinal section, to disclose interior details thereof.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, a record card [0, commonly known as Keysort card, is used for record keeping and other purposes, being of the general type shown in the above noted patent to A. Perkins, No. 1,544,172. The present device is particularly useful in connection with cards of such character, although it .will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various other types of punched cards can be sorted by means of the device under consideration.

Cards of the character indicated are provided with marginally punched holes I I which may be notched to provide a notch or slot l2 extending from a particular hole to the edge of the card l3, thereby indicating a selected classification. Inasmuch as the construction and use of these types ofcards are well known, a particular description thereof is unnecessary for an understanding of the present invention.

As shown in the drawings, the device is generally hail-shaped in form, consisting of a longitudinally extending gripping or handle section M, from one end of which a rigid fixed leg l5 depends. A sorting rod or needle I6 has one end fixed to thelower portion of the leg l5 and extends under and generally parallel to the handle section M of the device. A second supporting leg I! is pivotally mounted on the other end ofthe handle section, and is provided with a lower elongated opening or transverse notch l8, enabling the leg H to be moved over the free end of the needle 16 and support the needle by virtue of its resting upon the lower latch or hook portion l9 defining the bottom side of the transverse notch.

The leg H is mounted for lateral transverse swinging movement into and out of supporting engagement with the free end of the needle. Specifically, as disclosed in the drawings, the .upper end of the leg I! is riveted, or otherwise suitably secured, to a shaft Zll extending lengthwise of the handle section l4 and projecting thereinto a substantial distance. The inner end of this shaft is rotatably mounted within an inner bearing socket 2| in the handle, and its outer portion is rotatably mounted within an end support or closure 22, piloted within an enlarged longitudinal cylindrical bore 23 in the handle section, and secured to the latter in any suitable manner, as by screws 24. A thrust washer 25 is disposed between the inner face of the pivoted leg I1 and the outer surface of the end support 22 to facilitate swinging movement of the leg.

The pivoted leg has a laterally offset projection or thumb-piece 26 formed integral therewith and extending rearwardly over and adjacent the forward portion of the handle l4. This thumbpiece preferably extends to the same side of a plane including the axis of the shaft 20 and the needle It as the opening of the lower transverse notch [8, in order that depression of the thumbpiece 26 may swing the latch leg I! in a clockwise direction (as seen in Fig. 1) and remove it from its supporting position over the end of the needle or rod [6, and out of interference with a stack of cards. The leg ii is normally urged toward its position of support over the free end 7 of the needle or rod by a torsion spring Z!v coiled around the shaft 29 within the cylindrical bore 23, with its outer end suitably secured to the end support 22 and its inner end suitably secured to the shaft 29, as by projecting it within a longitudinal shaft slot 28. The spring is Wound and twisted in such direction as to normally tend to rotate the shaft 20 and pivoted leg I! in a counter-clockwise direction (as seen in Fig. 1 and thereby tend to hold the leg over the sorting needle I6.

In the use of the device, the hand is disposed around the gripping or handle section H! of the bail-shaped device, with the thumb occupying a convenient position on top of the rearwardly projecting thumb-piece 25, which is then depressed by the thumb to swing the pivoted leg I! laterally out of its supporting position on the end of the needle to a location in which its lower end is disposed above the needle a greater distance than the distance between the punched holes II in the card and the adjacent card edge l3. The needle 16 may then be inserted through selected aligned holes in a stack of cards I0, whereupon the pressure on the thumb-piece 26 is released, allowing the spring 27 to shift the leg I6 back over the needle to support its formerly free end. Thereafter, the device may be elevated by maintaining the hand around the gripping section l4, jarring the device to cause the cards Illa, which have been notched to their edges in registry with the needle l6 projecting through the punched holes H, to drop downwardly and separate from the stack of cards. Following removal of such notched cards in, the thumb-piece 26 may again be depressed to swing the pivoted leg I! from its supporting position over the needle, allowing the needle to be withdrawn from the stack of cards and inserted through selected aligned holes in another stack of cards, the foregoing operations being repeated.

By virtue of the device described, the stack of cards is supported by the hand disposed on the handle l4 directly thereover, thereby allowing no overhanging weight to be imposed upon the hand of the operator, thus enabling the sorting operation to be conducted with a minimum of fatigue and with greater facility. Moreover, the supporting of the needle at both of its ends during the elevating and jarring operations allows the needle or rod to deflect only slightly, if at all, insuring the dropping of the cards notched in registry with the needle from the card stack. In the event the device is tilted with the free end of the needle pointing in a downward direction, the card stack cannot slide lengthwise along the needle and allow some of the cards to drop from such end, since the weight of the cards will be directed against the pivoted leg H, which cannot swing outwardly in a vertical plane including the needle, since such action is resisted by the manner of mounting the lever on the shaft 29 and the fact that it is swingable to and from its supporting position on the end of the needle in a transverse plane substantially at right angles to the axis of the needle.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that a sorting device has been provided which is comparatively simple in construction and manner of use. one which overcomes the shortcomings of prior devices of the same general character.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in its construction by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A portable device for sorting punched record cards, checks and the like, including a longitudinally extending handle, a leg depending from said handle, a supporting rod secured at one end to said leg and projecting from said leg under and substantially parallel to said handle, a leg pivotally mounted on the opposite end of said handle for transverse pivotal movement in a plane normal to the axis of said handle and rod to and from supporting engagement with the other end of said rod, said pivoted leg having a notch at its lower end for receiving said rod, a member mounted on said pivoted leg adjacent said handle for operation by the thumb of a hand grasping said handle to swing said pivoted leg transversely from supporting engagement with said rod, and spring means for urging said pivoted leg toward supporting engagement with said rod.

2. A device for sorting punched record cards. checks and the like, including a longitudinally extending handle, a leg depending from said handle, a supporting rod secured at one end to said leg and projecting from said leg under and substantially parallel to said handle, a shaft oscillatably mounted in said handle and extending longitudinally thereof, a leg secured to said shaft for transverse movement to and from supporting engagement with the other end of said rod, said pivoted leg having a notch at its lower end for receiving said rod, a member mounted on said transversely movable leg adjacent said handle for operation by the thumb of a hand grasping said handle to swing said transversely movable leg from supporting engagement with said rod, and a coil spring connected to said shaft for urging said transversely movable leg toward supporting engagement with said rod.

HUNTER E. HOOE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 202,013 Foster Apr. 2, 1878 362,680 Tischer May 10, 1887 381,412 Palmer Apr. 17, 1888 866,391 Scott Sept. 17, 1907 1,640,173 Axe Aug. 23, 1927 

